Wonder Boys win GAC debut led by WilliamsMontrell Williams scored 27 points in his Arkansas Tech University debut to lead the Wonder Boys to an 84-67 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Great American Conference men's basketball action at Tucker Coliseum on Thursday night. Williams, a junior transfer from Northwest Kansas Technical College, made 11-of-16 field goal tries and 3-of-5 attempts from 3-point range. "Especially in the first half when we were struggling to sc...

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BY SAM STRASNER
arkansastechnews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

ATU volleyball season ends in GAC quarterfinalsHOT SPRINGS -- Hunter Eshnaur turned in a 17-kill effort, while Madison Nagel had 16 digs and Amanda Milnick dished out 37 assists, but the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns volleyball team (21-12) fell short in its quarterfinal matchup with Southwestern Oklahoma (14-16), falling 3-1 on Thursday at the Bank of the Ozarks Arena. Coach bayer says "I thought that we played hard and gave all of our effort tonight, but we were high-error and didn't take ad...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Little Johns buffalo the Bison in second roundDANVILLE -- The Danville Little Johns survived and advanced to the third round of the Class 2A State Tournament on Friday with a 45-13 win over the Bison on Friday at Little John Field. Danville (10-0) held the Bison to just 173 yards of offense on their way to victory. The Little Johns scored first on a 42-yard run by Evan Lane. Pablo Zapotitlan added the PAT to make it 7-0 with 8:17 left in the first. Jake Madding connected with Juan Ponce w...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Sand Lizards beat Bobcats 45-28DARDANELLE — The Sand Lizards defense forced four Dumas turnovers, and Dakota Rowland scored four touchdowns as Dardanelle advanced to the Class 4A quarterfinals for the third straight season with a 45-28 win Friday night at Bob Keenan Field. The Sand Lizards (10-2) will host the Shiloh Christian Saints next week. Shiloh defeated Heber Springs 42-7 on Friday. Dardanelle reached the quarterfinals in 2015 and advanced to the semifinals in 2014. ...

Red Devils back at home for Class 3A round twoATKINS -- Tommy Cody knew he had a special group of seniors before the season started. Actually, he knew they'd be special back when they were seventh graders. So it's no surprise to the head coach to see the Atkins Red Devils (8-2) with only one conference loss and playing at home in the second round of the Class 3A State Tournament. "As a coach, you know when you have a special group," Cody said. "I've known this group would be special since...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

#todayRussellville Cyclones head coach Billy Dawson described the West Memphis Blue Devils as having a bit of a "Jekyll and Hyde" season. West Memphis (7-4) beat undefeated Jonesboro Hurricanes 40-38, lost by a single point to the Class 6A defending state champion Pine Bluff Zebras, but also lost 14-7 by three-win Mountain Home. So does Jekyll or Hyde show up tonight at Cyclone Stadium? "They average 32 points per game," Dawson said. "They only give...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Cyclones finish 3rd in stateLAKE HAMILTON -- The Russellville Lady Cyclones cross country team finished third in the Class 6A State Meet on Saturday in Lake Hamilton. The meet was won by Siloam Springs, followed by Lake Hamilton and Russellville. "Our girls improved from last year's meet by an impressive 74 points," said head coach John Frazier. Charissa Helms-Pittman and Astrid Christensen each earned All-State honors and ran career best times. Helms-Pittman finished se...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

#throwbackthursdayTHE COURIER / File Reprinted from a 1974 edition of The Courier Driving Inside is Dover's Gary Churchill in the Arkansas Tech high school boys tournament. The Pirates and Alpena stayed neck and neck in the second half, neither team leading more than three points. Kenny Underwood (left) sank a shot with three seconds left to give the Leopards a 54-53 win. Terry Wilcox is the other Alpena player.

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Sand Lizards brace for DumasDARDANELLE -- Sand Lizards head coach Phil Vega expects another speedy match-up as Dardanelle hosts the Dumas Bobcats on Friday at Bob Keenan Field in the second round of the Class 4A State Tournament. Vega previously described Dardanelle's (9-2) round one opponent, the Helena-West Helena Cougars, as the fastest team the Sand Lizards had played up to that point. Dardanelle handled the Cougars 45-23, but Vega believes this week's game could be ...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Did you know?THE COURIER / Tommy Parker Russellville's Class AAAAA playoff game against the West Memphis Blue Devils on Nov. 10, 2000 is in the national record books. In that game, West Memphis rushed for 878 yards in a 74-37 win over the Cyclones, which is third-most rushing yards in a single game nationally. Russellville leads the series 2-1 with all three previous meetings coming in the postseason. Pictured: Paul Chiolino (40) closes in on the Siloam Sp...

Sand Lizards overcome Subiaco in OTDARDANELLE -- The Sand Lizards survived the Subiaco Academy Trojans 61-57 on Tuesday in overtime. Dardanelle and Subiaco tied 8-8 at the end of the first quarter, but the Trojans took a 27-24 lead at halftime. Subiaco widened the score to 43-37 after the third, but the Sand Lizards tied the score at 52 by the end of regulation. Dardanelle head coach Russell Sturdivant said he thought his team opened the game "very flat." "We were very fortunat...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

ATU vs. SWOSU capsuleArkansas Tech University will begin the Great American Conference portion of its 2016-17 men's and women's basketball schedules with a home doubleheader against Southwestern Oklahoma State University on Thursday, Nov. 17. Tickets ($5 adults, $3 students and senior citizens) will be available at the door. Those with a valid Arkansas Tech identification card will be admitted free of charge. #25 Arkansas Tech Golden Suns (1-0, 0-0 GAC) vs. SWOSU ...

Golden Suns open GAC play todayThe Arkansas Tech Golden Suns will begin Great American Conference play on Thursday, hosting Southwestern Oklahoma at 5:30 p.m. Tech will then host Northwestern Oklahoma on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m. Scouting The Golden Suns Tech (1-0, 0-0 GAC) is coming off an 81-51 win over Lane College on Saturday, the Golden Suns' first win of the 2016-17 regular season. In the victory, Cheyenne North led the team with 13 points on just eight shot attem...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Eight Wonder Boys named All-GACPunter Clayton Watson earned his second consecutive all-Great American Conference first team honor, leading a cast of eight Wonder Boys to be named to all-GAC squads, the league office announced Tuesday. Watson was joined by second team picks Chris Eastburn, Jabyes Cross, Demetris Ford, and Cua' Rose, and honorable mention picks Bruce Livingston, Eric Perez, and Braden Stringer. Watson currently ranks eighth nationally and first in the GAC in ...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Little Johns begin long trek to stateDANVILLE -- It was never enough for the Danville Little Johns to go undefeated in the regular season and win the 2A-4 Conference. The Little Johns wanted more. "We don't talk about that a whole lot," Danville head coach D.J. Crane said. "We didn't make a big deal out of going undefeated. That's not the way we think. We always talk about being day by day here, and as a football team, that wasn't even discussed. It was a big deal to a lot of peo...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

River Hawks place in climbing competitionTHE COURIER / Submitted River Hawks place in competition Community Christian School's climbing team placed third and fourth in their division in its first ever competition this weekend. The team is coached by Jessica Simpson, who has been training sophomore climbers Sidney Baker and Sarah Schrimsher at The Wall in Russellville. The team competed in the Youth A division, which was hosted by USA Climbing and held at the Little Rock Climbing Cent...

Jr. Lady Pirates win Pope Co. tourneyDOVER — The Dover Junior Lady Pirates defeated the Pottsville Junior Lady Apaches 28-26 in overtime on Saturday to win the Pope County Tournament. Pottsville led 3-2 after the first quarter, but the Junior Lady Pirates went up 10-6 at halftime. After the third quarter, Dover led 17-12, but the Junior Lady Apaches battled back to tie the score 23-23 at the end of regulation. "We battled hard to claim this game," Dover head coach Charlie Melton ...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Youth hunters harvest nearly 9,500 deerLITTLE ROCK -- Cooler temperatures and the first good signs of rutting activity beckoned well for the first youth hunt of the 2016-17 deer season last weekend, and Arkansas's young guns did not disappoint. Hunters harvested 9,429 deer during the two-day season. According to Cory Gray, deer program coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC), the harvest is lower than last year's 12,000-deer youth hunt, but is very similar to t...

Arkansas Tech basketball adds pair of early signeesATU Athletic Communications Arkansas Tech women's basketball head coach Dave Wilbers announced the signing of two student-athletes, Jacie Higgins and Ke'Vonshaye Stackhouse, for the 2017-18 season. Higgins, a 5-foot-11 guard, is entering her first and final season under Coach Ashley Nance at Conway High School. Higgins previously played at Springdale Har-Ber High School, where she was the first freshman in school history to start on the varsit...

Red Devils advance with win over GreenlandATKINS — The Red Devils opened the playoffs with a dominate win 48-18 win over the Greenland Pirates on Friday at Sorrels Stadium at Lemley Field. “We started off slow at the beginning but came around after the half,” Atkins head coach Tommy Cody said. “We’ve been pretty good these past few weeks so we’ll be looking forward to next Friday.” Atkins (8-2) started off the game with good field position at midfield. After a 20-yard burst from Gage ...

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BY GREGORY L. BRADENThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley